RISD: RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN

If you haven't heard of John Maeda before, now is the time to start doing a bit of research. There's a great interview on the Fast Company Web site. Maeda is the current President of RISD, the Rhode Island School of Design.

Maeda's background includes BS and MS degrees from MIT, he's considered a world-renowned graphic designer who pioneered the use of computers used for art, and he initiated the Design By Numbers project, a global initiative to teach computer programming to visual artists. Maeda has some important comments regarding students in art and multimedia. Here is a quote from his interview:

"New media requires new people, young people who are masters in using this material. And these people are having a problem now. The problem is they can become extremely wealthy without much effort. They can become wealthy before the age of 25. What is their interest in building schools, an intellectual infrastructure? They have no reason. Where’s the gain? The gain isn’t monetary, and the gain isn’t even status, when you consider the fact that old media tries to kill new media. Oh bad, bad, bad. In that case, why would you waste your time? 

Every cool website that I encounter, I’ll email the people asking if they want to study in the graduate programme at MIT. The usual reply is: ‘I didn’t go to college, I went to art school but the teachers didn’t know anything about this new media stuff. I can just pick it up by myself with my friends.’ There are all these mini-cliques who get together over the Web and talk about new things, but it’s a bit wild right now, like little cults, little packs, and I’m not sure they can formalise into a school per se. 

I don’t believe that we can develop the potential of new media until there is a new type of school. Everybody wants a new school, but there has to be something that happens, something that clicks. I believe it’s about the myth. Unless you have the myth of a great school of thought in new media, you are not going to have great new media. I think about Paul Rand and how he did all that design work and I’m motivated to get off my butt and do something. Unless you have these myths, who’s going to want to get up in the morning?"

An interesting marketing item from RISD is that they are now using START HERE (sound familiar?) as the promotional tagline for fundraising. Check out Maeda's RISD BLOG.

NEW LINKS:

Fresh Bump

Freshbump is a resource and  social news media site for Advertising, Architecture, Computer Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, and Photography.

Format Magazine

Format is a great online magazine that features fashion and art culture. Check it out. Issue 52 is their Video Game issue.

BeHance Network

Behance is social design network and free portfolio site where designers apply to be on the site. Once invited by the site managers, designers upload their art and design to portfolios.

-Daniel